The most frequently recorded of the major compositions of Berlioz is his Symphonie Fantastique, but Harold in Italy, not quite a Viola concerto, although giving that instrument many passages of beauty and excitement, has comparable attractions.

Of the dozen or so recordings of it which I've listened to, I'd suggest the thrilling performance led by Charles Munch with the Boston Symphony for anyone who doesn't currently have this in their collection. High-powered performances of four Berlioz overtures are also included, making for a superb overall Berlioz collection. This was selected for remastering for SACD in the "Living Stereo" series and the compatible disc also has an excellent quality CD layer. Available here from several Amazon sellers at typically bargain prices.

Ordered the SACD this last week and thoroughly enjoyed the disc. Thanks for the recommendation!

Jacques, I don't watch much music on video discs. The relatively small collection I have is composed of ballets(Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella, etc.)where the visual element is obviously highly important. There apparently are six Carmens on Blu-ray and I haven't seen any of them. I did see the excellent Garanca/Alagna performance about three years ago on PBS and if I was going to get a Carmen Blu-ray, that's the one I'd pick.

A sample of the Final Scene is on YouTube here ,and Garanca sings Carmen's Gypsy Song in a concert setting here .

Every collection should include recordings of the beautiful and thrilling music Tchaikovsky composed for the three great ballets, The nutcracker, Sleeping beauty and Swan Lake. I've suggested in the past a disc of highlights from Swan Lake, but a 2-disc set of this glorious music in its entirety is available at bargain prices from about $6 up from various Amazon sellers .

Note that this is in fact a 2-disc set of the complete music, not a disc of the highlights. It's the great performance that the first Amazon reviewer(a symphony orchestra oboist)was willing to pay $105 for six years ago when it was out of print.

I'm rather fond of Jim Morrison and the Doors, and Eric Burdon and the Animals myself. Oh yeah and Lady Gaga, and Shakira. Never could get into orchestra music much except for background music in a movie.

There was a Russian opera album I really liked once. Don't recall who or what.